Despite various legal risks surrounding former President Donald Trump, such as his attempts to overturn the election results and the leaking of classified White House documents, a recent survey shows that the support from U.S. Republican voters remains largely unaffected.
According to a poll conducted by The New York Times (NYT) and Siena College from the 10th to 14th of this month with 1,016 registered voters, 58% of respondents believe that “former President Trump has committed serious crimes”. Furthermore, 48% of respondents believe that Trump’s prosecution occurred according to legal principles and was not politically motivated, exceeding the 46% who believe it was a political prosecution.
Even in this context, 46% of respondents said they would vote for Trump in the next presidential election, surpassing the 44% who would vote for President Joe Biden. Notably, 62% of Republican voters stated that “even if he is found guilty, Trump should become the Republican presidential candidate if he wins the party’s primary”. Only 32% felt that he should not be nominated as the Republican candidate if found guilty.
In relation to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, 47% of respondents believe Trump should be found guilty, while 39% believe he is not guilty.
Since leaving office, Trump has been indicted four times on charges such as attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, leaking classified White House documents, and hush-money payments related to sexual harassment allegations. He faces up to 91 counts. Despite the ignominy of being the first former or current U.S. president to face a criminal trial, Trump’s approval rating has shown signs of rebounding.
Initially, many in U.S. politics predicted that these legal risks would hinder Trump’s attempt to run as the opposition party’s presidential candidate. However, his actual support seems largely unaffected. In fact, 64% of Republican voters said they would vote for Trump if the election were held today, a 10% increase from the 54% reported in a July poll.
Among the potential primary contenders, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley came in second with 11% support, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis slipped to third place with a 9% approval rate.
By. Yu Jin Cho
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